Derrick



May 27, 1924. 1,495,565

P. YORKE Filed Aug. 23 1922 El VLEK Yun-'Ke Y" l V aaai any a7; rae..

PATRICK YORKE, 0F WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVA.

' nnacarcx.

Application filed August 23, 1922. Serial No. 583,824.

To all whomc' may conce-m.'

Be it known that I, PATRICK Yom, a citizen of the .United States,residing at Washington, in the county of Washington, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDerricks, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in derricks, and moreparticularly to a metallic derrick structure.

An important object of the invention is to provide a novel attachingplate .by means of which the girts and braces ofthe derrick ma besecured to the legs thereof.

further object of the invention is to provide a ysingle attaching platecapable of use in duplicate at each story of the derrick, theconstruction thereof providing for the changing angle of the braces ofthe storyt As is well known to those familiar with the art, intheconstruction ot derricks and particularly that type of derrick employedin the oil fields, the derrick is tapered -from the bottom to the topand the stories of the derrick or sections thereof are commonly made ofthe same height. The legs of the derrick are made up in sections of agiven length and these sections are assembled and the girts and bracesapplied to v maintain the leg sections in position. For the purpose ofthis application, plates are provided which serve not only to' connectadjacent leg sections but which are likewise provided with means forattaching thereto the ends of the girts and braces. Heretofore, it hasbeen necessary in the construction of derricks, and more particularlymetallic derricks, to provide the braces withbut a single fasteningmeans ateach end due to the fact that the changing angle of the braceswould necessitate, were there more than a single fastening means at eachend, a separate plate construction for each story of the derrick. Thisconstruction has been attempted but has been found to be extremelyunsatisfactory due to the diiiculty of having the plates properlypunched sothat the openings for the plurality of fastening elements Willalign and furthermore the cost of constructing so great a number ofdifferent types of plates raises the cost of the derrick to a pointwhere it becomes prohibitive.

Where the openings through which the fastenings must be `inserted areslightly out of line, which will often be the case with this type ofconstruction, it has been found that the mechanics erecting the derrickwill often omit the same. A single fastening means in these braces whilesuficing under ordinary stress and strain of the derrick, permits acertain amount of play therein and when unusual stress is applied, willoftenv result in warping ofl the legs and distortion of the derrick,rendering the' same difficult to rebuild and often causing sheering ofthe retaining elements by means of which the sections of the derrick aremaintained in position. It is accordingly desirable that more than asingle bolt or fastening be applied to` each end of the brace, and anobject of this invention, as hereinbefore'set forth, is to provide aplate of such construction that it may be employed for connecting thebraces and legs of each story of the' derrick Without alteringtheconstruction thereof in any manner and which by its constructioncompensates for the changing angle of the braces resulting 'from thetapering of the'derrick from foot to crown block.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of' thischaracter which may be very cheapl and readily produced by the use of apunc ing machine andwhich lends itself to application to metallicderrick structures regardless of the type of 'mate- `rial employed inthe construction ofl the legs, whether the same be of angle iron,tubular material or any other desired form.

These and other objects I attain by the construction and arrangementshown in the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose` ofillustration is shown apreferred embodiment of my invention and whereinlike reference characters designate like parts throughout.

In the drawings i- Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of Iladerrick constructedin accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation showing the joint betweenadjacent leg sections of the derrick and the connections of the girtsand braces thereto; A l

Figure 3 is a sectional View on the line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4: is a side elevation of the joint, the girts,` braces and theirconnections bein removed;

igure 5 is a section on the line-5 5 of lFi ure 2;

igure 6 is a fragmentary side elevation of a slightly modified form ofconnection plate.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10indicates derrick leg sections, in the present instance shown ascomposed of lengths of angle iron, and 11 indicates plates employed forconnecting the upper end of the leg sections of one story,

of the derrick with the lower ends of the legs of the story next above,these plates being usually secured to the upper end of the lower legsection 10, as indicated at 12, and having means, as bolts 13, wherebythe lower end of the leg section next above may be readily attachedthereto. 1n the present instance the plate 11 is shown as notched out atits'upper corner, as indicated at 1/1, and having extending downwardlyfrom the inner corner of this notch a .slot 15, and the lower end of thelower leg section 10 is' shown as provided with a slot 16, the securingelements extending through the slot .16 just mentioned and through asuitable opening formed in the upper legsection 10, this constructionbeing that disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,3%,7 93.

'lhe lower bolt 13 forms a support and attachin means for the outer endof a girt l' while t e upper bolt 13 forms a support and attaching meansfor the outer lower end of a cross brace 18. 'lhe plate 11 is providedbelow the lower bolt 13 hereinbefore described with a further bolt 19extending through the plate and the upper end of the lower leg 10 andforms a support for the outer upper end of a second cross brace 18.

ln accordance with my invention the plate 11 is constructed in suchfashion that itis of greater width than the surface of the legs withwhich it is engaged and projects inwardly from the inner edges of theselegs toward the leg vat the opposite side of the derrick on the sameface, the projectin portion of the derrick being designated hy thenumeral 20. ln this projecting portion at the upper and lower endthereof l form arcuate slots 13 and 19 respectively, these slots havingas the center of their curvature, the center of the securing elements orbolts 13 and 19 respectively. lin these slots are arranged bolts 21which are adapted to ex' tend through the braces 18 and forma secondsecuring means therefor. lin this extended portion, centrally thereof, lform an opening adapted for the reception of a bolt 22 which forms'asecond securing means for the'girt 17, engaging the girt inwardly of thepoint of its engagement with the bolt 13. vlhe engagement of the crossbraces 18 and.

nti-eases girt 17 with their respective securing elements is preferablyin the form of slots opening through the lower edge of the girts andbracesfso that upon loosening of the securing elements, these girts andbraces may be withdrawn withoutv the necessity. of completely removingthe securing elements and the derrick therefore readily torn down forshipment.

lt will be obvious that by the construction recited, the changing angleof` the braces 18 as the derrick tapers toward the upper end thereofwill be compensated for, the bolts I21 being capable of movement in theslots 13 and 19 and accordingly readily permitting a change of angle ofthese braces and at the same time .permitting a second securing elementto be employed. 1f more than two securing elements at each end of thebraces 18 and girts 17 are desired, this may be readily accomplished byenlarging the plate as suggested in Figure 6 and increasing the numberof arcuate slots and openings for the bolts 21 and 22 respectively. ltwill furthermore be obvious that the construction as hereinbefore setforth is capable of some change and modification and that while theplate has been shown as employed with angle iron legs, might readily beadapted to leg constructions of different cross section without in anymanner departing from the spirit of my invention, and l accordingly .donot limit myself to the specific structure hereinbefore set forth exceptas hereinafter claimed.

1. A device for connecting the adjacent ends of the leg sections of aderrick to one another and the braces and girts of the derrick to theleg sections, comprising a plate of greater width than the leg sectionsto lll@ which it is applied, having securing elements f engaging theouter ends of the braces and other securing elements to engage thebraces inwardly of the braces with respect to the first named securingelements, the last named securing elements having engagement with saidbraces and said plate permitting a variation of the angle of the bracesto said leg sections.

2. A device for connecting the adjacent -ends of the leg sections of aderriclr to one lill dll

with which the plate is engaged, the engageanother and the cross bracesof the derrick to such leg sections, comprising a plate of greater widththan the leg sections to which it is appliedv having securing elementsengaging the outer ends of the braces and other securing elements toengage the braces inwardlyof the ends of the braces with respect to thefirst named securing elements, saidl other securing elements operatingin slots formed in said plate and curved with the centers of the firstnamed securing elements as a radius to said leg sections.

4. The combination withy the adjacent ends of leg sections of a derrick,of a plate secured to each thereof, a brace engaging said plate, asecuring element extending through the plate and brace, an arcuate slot.

formed in said plate having the center of the securing element as aradial center, and a securing element extending throughl said brace andengaged in said slot.

5. A device for connectin the adjacent ends of thejleg sections oferricks to one another and the braces of the derrick to the leg sectionscomprising a plate abutting and secured to the adjacent ends of the legsections and against which the braces abut, securing elementsextendingthrough the plate and the ends of said braces and securing the braces tothe plate, and other securing elements extending through said braces andhaving a connection with the plate permitting arcuate movement of thebraces with the first named securing elements asa center whereby saidplate may be emplo ed forv erricks connecting the leg sections of the atvarious levels thereof and permit movement 'of said braces compensatingfor the variation in an le of the braces.

6.' The Ycomblnation with the adjacent ends of leg sections of aderrick, of a platel secured to each thereof, a brace engaging saidplate, a ksecuring element extending through the plate and braceadjacent the end ofthe brace, and a slot formed in said plate, and "asecond securing element directed through said brace and engaging inysaid s ot.

1 7 Thel combination with the adjacent ends of upper and lower legsections of a derrick, of a plate secured to the upper end of the lowerleg section and extending thereabove, said plate having a securingelement directed therethrough and being provided in its upper end with aslot aligning with said securingzelement, the upper leg section of thederrick being provided in its lower end with a slot for receiving thesecuring element of the plate, and above and in alignment with said slotwith a securing element for engagement in the slot of the plate.

8. A derrick having the usual legs and braces for said legs, boltssecuring the braces to the legs, and a bolt and slot connection betweenthe legs and braces spacedlongitudinally of the braces from the firstnamed bolts permitting arcuate movement of the braces with respect tothe legs with the first named bolts as a center.v

In testimony whereof'I hereunto afiix my signature.

' PATRICK YORKE.

